Liquid level indicator



M. @".YNGN 1,864,991

LIQUD LEVEL INDICATOR l Filed Aug. 8. 1922 Patented June 1932 n. mcm'lrmanmma, minimun' 'Application alec August 8, 1928. Serial Io. 580,401.

My invention relates to a novel gasoline or other li uid indicator ,which can -be read-` ily'installe upon automobiles or other self propelled vehicles or upon tanks of .,any standard. or conventional vtype without change therein, whereby. the height or levelof .the gasoline or other liquid will be visually indicated with great accurac at the vdesired point through the a enc o a liquid medium, whereby t euse o ro s, links and other mechanical connections between .the gasoline tank and the indicator is entirely ispensed with, means being employed for conducting variations of pressure in the gasoline tank to a pair of' concentric chambers communicating at their bottoms and containing a. liquid, and provided with a lioat and a counterweight which arev connected to suitable indicating devices,.which in the case of an automobile may be arranged ontheinstrument board or in proximity thereto, said iloat and counterweight being actuated by the .change of the level of the liquid in said chambers.

My invention further consists of other novel features of construction and advanta e, all as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

or the purpose of illustrating my invention, Iv have shown in the accompanying 3 drawings forms thereof which are at present preferred by me, since they will givein; prac- 'tice satisfactory and reliable results, although-it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which my invention consists can be variously arranged' and organized and that my invention is not limited tothe precise 'arrangement and organization of these'instrumentalities 'as herein shown and described.' .1-

Figure` 1 represents a vertical sectional view of'one form kof theindicator mechanism,"showing ythe 'iioat and counterweight of unequal volumes Aand of unequal v veights positioned in tubesarranged concentrically, the connection from the indicating devices to the pressure chamber within the `gasoline or other tank beingalso shown, certain of the parts being shownin elevation.,v. n 1 r Fi" 2 represents a verticalsectionon 7, the llatter being -13 in the tank 14, sai bell having theV resline 2--2 Figure 1, certain parts beingshown in elevation. i

Figure 3 represents a horizontal section on line 3--3 Figure 2.

Figure 4 represents a horizontal section on line 4-4 Figure 1.

Similar numerals oi reference indicate cor responding parts.

Referring to the drawings: i

Referring lirst to Figure 1, 1 desi ates my 00 novel construction of gasoline or ot ler liquid indicator, the same comprising a lower cu shaped member or outer tube 2, which .1s closed at its bottom and open at its top said top being internallythreaded at 3 and being 65 engaged by the externally threaded portion L of the tubular member 5, which'is composed o the upper'tube 6 and the lower tube o en at its bottom and arran ed concentrica y within the outer tube 2. T e bottom of the tube 7 is slightly raised above vthe bottom of the tube 2.

The outer tubularl member 2 is threaded at 9 for the rece tion of the upper terminal of the pipe 10, w ose other or lower terminal I6 11 communicates with the inverted cupshaped chamber or bell 12 which is adapted to be immersed in the asoline or other liquid sure chamber 15 1n the upper portion t ereo o By reason of the manner of assembling the members 2 and 7, it will be seen that an annular chamber 16`is formed therebetween, into which variations of pressure are conveyed through'the pipe' 10 to the top of the li uid in the chamber 16 and thence to the oat chamber 35. y

The upper portion of the inner tubular member 6 is provided with a head 18 on which is threaded the lower portion of the upper housing or casing 19, the latter having the lower pulley or roller'20 mounted therein,

above which isfthe upper pulley or roller 21 arranged out of verticalvalignment with the -pulle 20, above which is the centrally dispose roller 22, which is mounted on the shaft 23, which carries the pointer or finger 24, which is contained within the housing 25 carried by casing 19 and is provided with 100 the stationary scale 26, the rollers and 21 serving as idlers. z

The pulley 20 is mounted on the shaft 27 `whose ends revolve in suitable bearings, and

arrangement the rollers 20, 21' and 22 e readily accessible from the exterior of t e housing 19 for the purposesy of adjustment, inspection, replacement or repair.

31 designates Aa z cylindrical counterweight open at both its ends, and within which is free tovmove the'fioat 32, which is closed aty both its upper and lower ends. The weight of the counterweight'l is'less thanthe weight fof the float 32. The counterweight 31 is suspended from the cords 33 while the float 32 is sus ended from the cord 34, said cords 33 an 34 being wound around the pulley 22 in opposite directions and secured thereto, and being guided by the idlers 20 and 21.

35 designates va chamber which is filled with any suitable liquid which will not readily freeze or evaporate, the level of said liquid rising and falling'concommittently with the riseand fall of the level of the gasoline in the tank 14, with' which it isv connected by the pipe 10, the other end of which communicates with chamber 15 in the bell'12, in the `manner above-set forth, to actuate the ioat 32 and counterweight 31, which in turn actuate the indicator '24, -which is adapted to indicate the amount'of gasoline in the tank by any suitable graduations. The operation is as follows:

As the level'of the liquid in the chamber 35 rises 'with the rise of the gasoline in thel chamber 15, the lower ends of the float 32 and counterweight 31 are both submerged in said liquid, Due to the fact that said counter- I weight Weighs slightly less than said float and due to the fact that the float is closed at its bottom end, andthe counterweight is open at its bottom end, said float will tend to displace a larger volume of'liquid than that displaced by anfequal length of said counterweight, with the result that the float 32 tends to move upwardly While the counterweight 31 f tends to move downwardly. This unbalances the float and counterweight and results in'a movement of the pointer 24, i! being under- 'stood that when the tank 13 is empty as is the case in the illustration shown in Figure 1 of the drawings, and thelevel of the liquid vin the chamber 35 is at its lowest, the oat 32 is partly submerged in or in contact with the liquid in the chamber 35 and is thus balanced with the counterweight 31, to

bring the ointer 24 to the shown in igure 1.

It will be understood that the lirquid in the chambers 16 and 35 may preferably be of vegetable oil which does not readily freeze or evaporate; however, other liquids having the same or equivalent physical properties or characteristics may be employed.

While I have designed my novel indicator particularly for use in automobiles or other self-propelledl vehicles, since the same is capa le of being readily installed thereon, without any change or dismantling of any of the standard automobile units, it will be apparent that the broad principle of my invention is applicable to stationary tanks or for indicating the hei ht or variations of level of other liquids t an gasoline, and it will be understood that in its broad adaptation, my invention is applicable as an indicator for indicating the variations in level of any other liquid than gasoline, and is equally capable of adaptation to any tank otaining such liquid, for the purpose speciyIt will be apparent that my invention being operated solely by variations of pressure within the ball chamber will be entirely automatic in its operation, and that it dispenses entirely with floats in the gasoline chamber zero position as and with all mechanical connections intermediate said tioat and the indicating devices, so that there is no liability of the apparatus getting out of order after being installed in position, .and owing to its great simplicity and the absence of. any mechanical connections, it can be readily installed in any standard automobile Without the employment of skilled labor and without dismantling or taking down of any o'f the standard automobile units, it being immaterial whether the gasoline tank is located atl the rear of the automobile, or in any other position upon the chassis.

Having thus described my invention, what claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: A gauge for indicating the level of liquid within a.'v tank, comprising a bell shaped member disposed near the bottom of said tank and forming an air chamber, a. chamber having a liquid therein, a second chamber communicating with said first chamber at the bottom thereof, a pipe leading from the to of said second chamber to the top of said bell shaped member, an open ended hollowV sitions ofsaid Hoat and said counterweight may be varied by the rise and fall of the liquid in said first mentioned chamber due to P 12or a change in the level of the liquid in said tank, and an indicating device operatively connected to and adapted to be actuated by said :lexible members to indicate in volumetric gunits the change in the relative positionsof said munterweight and said float.

. THOMAS M. EYNON. l 

